A look behind the scenes at the Ulm-based jewelery workshop reveals that the secrets of success are found in teamwork, the language of jewelry and in the honesty of the materials.

“If the jewelry is better than my sketches and specifications, my team has done a fantastic job,” says Wolf-Peter Schwarz – and he means it. Teamwork is written in capital letters at the Charlotte·Ehinger-Schwarz 1876 jewelry atelier. Wolf-Peter Schwarz is in constant communication with his staff, and everyone on the ES team must be able to read and interpret the sketches he produces. “Everyone” includes the staff in the modeling and model department, the goldsmiths, enamel experts and his sales team. Whether he is working on his designs, following up on the development of an item of jewelry in the model studio or considering the selection of gemstones, he is always approachable for customers as well as for his team.

For outsiders, the “jewelry language” might sound more like a foreign language. But for the ES team, it is the perfect communication tool for defining the ideals of the company. Wolf-Peter Schwarz communicates with his team with questions like: What are explosive gaps? How does asymmetric balance work? What appears matte? What appears glossy? Why do people like wearing rings? Why do they prefer right or left - hand rings? What is light and what is heavy? The answers to these questions synthesize the rules of design, as evidenced by the collections and unique pieces created in the Ulm-based workshop. A pearl drop appears heavy if it is suspended with the wider part facing down, but it appears light if the delicate end points downwards. Wolf-Peter Schwarz lends credence to this astonishingly simple insight with a small gesture of his hand, turning the pearl 180 degrees.